Apparel Sourcing Manager Men's Woven Tops
Basis Set Ventures (Basis Set) is an AI-native venture capital fund founded in 2017 that invests in early-stage AI companies, positioning itself as the first capital for founders. The firm backs startups across automated workflows, autonomy, intelligent collaboration, and scalable infrastructure, serving early-stage AI founders and startups as its typical clients.
About Basis Set Ventures
Basis Set Ventures is an AI-native venture fund founded in 2017, built on the science of minds and machines, that recently announced its $250M Fund IV. The firm positions itself as the first institutional capital for founders and provides hands-on, 24/7 'founder concierge' support, acting as its portfolio companies' first customer, sales rep, bug reporter, and recruiter. It invests in AI-first startups spanning categories such as automated workflows, autonomy, intelligent collaboration, and scalable infrastructure, with portfolio companies including Quince, Cusp, Path Robotics, OpenArt, Entire, Tigris Data, Mem0, Vizcom, Simular, and Sakana. Basis Set also publishes original research and perspectives on topics like trucking operations, global customs, maritime transport, real estate, agriculture, and AI agent infrastructure, and runs a Basis Set AI Fellows program for individuals to work on hard problems within the firm and its portfolio companies. Its typical clients are early-stage, AI-native startup founders across a range of industries including consumer, infrastructure, robotics, and enterprise software.
Skills
About the Role
You will build and lead the Men's Woven Top sourcing function from the ground up, identifying and onboarding new vendor partners. You will focus primarily on Men's Woven Tops with potential expansion into other categories. You'll have a rare opportunity to own and build a sourcing operation in a high-impact category, bringing deep knowledge of category manufacturing, strong vendor relationships, and the operational rigor to scale new supply chains that deliver on cost, quality, and lead time.
Requirements
- 10+ years of sourcing and merchandising experience in Men's apparel categories with high-end national brands in the United States and Europe, specifically in Men's Woven Tops
- Consumer focused and ambitious individual providing strategic leadership
- Proven ability as a self starter and quick independent learner
- Exceptional attention to detail with a data driven approach to decision making and problem-solving
- Strong analytical mindset with a focus on execution, process improvement, and brand enhancement
- Continuous learner with a proactive attitude, open to new perspectives
- Good track record in supply chain management or operations
- Excellent interpersonal skills, skilled in written and verbal communication and presentation
- Resilient under pressure and relentless in the drive to create broader impact
Responsibilities
- Scout for vendor partners in the UK and Europe who can manufacture high quality Men's Woven Tops products with fast production lead time
- Pitch and onboard vendor partners quickly with clear criteria around the initial test period and scalability
- Drive excellence in partner operations for existing supplier relationships while expanding a redundant supplier base to improve product costs, quality, and commercial terms
- Manage capacity at a supplier and style level to keep pace with company growth and scale
- Source materials quickly that can improve product cost, quality and speed, negotiating with suppliers from T1 to T2 and T3 mill and vendor partners
- Build a clear costing strategy using open costing breakdown expertise and construct a validated cost structure to negotiate with vendor partners
- Act as an ambassador to partners in all interactions, building and deepening relationships
- Drive for higher hit-rate launches through product excellence and faster development times by identifying bottlenecks and proposing solutions
- Maintain a strategic and commercial understanding of the sourcing landscape and trade benefits to improve product costs and speed to market for the USA, Canada, and Europe
- Lead across strategic and tactical levels involving diverse stakeholders from different functions and nationalities, redefining processes and SOPs for continuous improvement